Victoria residents want noise study of new Cyclone helicopters

June 09, 2015
| Victoria, B.C.

By The Vancouver Sun

Residents near Victoria International Airport are demanding a federal environmental assessment into noise levels associated with Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone helicopters using the government’s new $155-million hangar and operations base.

Ben Casson, a retired Alberta prosecutor and provincial court judge now living in North Saanich, said that Ottawa has failed to consider the public impact of the new helicopters flying to and from the 443 Maritime Helicopter Squadron’s base.

“I’m not an activist, but maybe I should be,” Casson said in an interview. “I want to expose the process they followed on this project. They deliberately avoided public input. It’s horrific what they’ve attempted to do.”

He fears that the Cyclone helicopters — the long-awaited replacement for the aging CH-124 Sea King helicopters — will conduct flights at all times of the day and night. Duties could include training missions as well as enforcement of environmental, drug and fisheries laws “without any consultation whatsoever” of the affected public, he said. | READ MORE